A SCHOOLBOY left paralysed after a rugby tackle went horrifically wrong has set his sights on Paralympic glory.

Doctors have told George Claxton he will never walk again but he is determined to compete in the 2016 Rio Games.

George, 16, said: “During my eight months in hospital it was hard sometimes to be positive.

“I had got a little movement back in my arms and had started trying to get stronger and stronger and went down one day to the hospital gym. A team was playing wheelchair rugby and they got me into one of the chairs and I had a shot.

“It was great fun and really helped lift my spirits. I realised I could still do a sport even after what had happened.”

George was playing for Blackburn Under-15s last February when a tackle flipped him into the air, dislocating his neck, shattering a spinal disc and twisting his spinal column beyond repair.

I realised I could still do a sport even after what had happened

George Claxton

Now Blackburn-born former England international Will Greenwood is heading an appeal to raise cash to help provide for George’s needs in the years to come.

Launching a website appeal, the rugby star said: “If George was next to you on a rugby field he would have your inside shoulder, he would be over you in the ruck, he would look after you. Away from the rugby field, we must now be there for him.”

George’s father, brewery worker Andrew Claxton, said: “George was only eight when he lost his mother to cancer so he has had to learn to cope with awful things at a very young age. It is wonderful to see him ­enjoying the wheelchair rugby training sessions.

"I think he gets really tired but there’s no way he would admit it to me.”

For more information about the appeal go to www.georgeclaxtontrust.com